1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a disc recording/reproducing apparatus having the function of a disc exchanging function. More particularly, it relates to a disc recording/reproducing apparatus in which one of plural trays in a container, holding a disc, is pulled out and held even after movement to a recording/reproducing unit, with the holding of the disc being released after the tray is restored from the recording/reproducing unit.
2. Description of the Related Art
There has hitherto been used a disc recording/reproducing apparatus having the disc exchanging function of selectively pulling out plural disc trays housed in a housing section and loading a disc set on a disc tray on a recording/reproducing unit for recording and/or reproducing information signals.
The disc recording/reproducing apparatus, having the disc exchanging function, has a disc housing section in which are stacked plural disc trays each having an optical disc as recording medium set thereon, a recording and/or reproducing unit for recording and/or reproducing information signals on or from an optical disc as a recording medium set on the disc tray, a pull-out mechanism for pulling out one of the disc trays housed in the disc housing section and a lift mechanism for lifting and lowering the recording and/or reproducing unit to a position in register with the position housing the disc tray.
For recording and/or reproducing information signals on or from an optical disc housed in the housing section by the present disc recording and/or reproducing apparatus, one of the disc trays housed in the tray housing unit is selected. After disc tray selection, the recording and/or reproducing unit is uplifted or lowered to a position in register with the position of housing the desc tray. The pull-out mechanism then starts its operation to pull out the selected disc from the housing section to move it towards the recording and/or reproducing unit. The operation of loading the optical disc as set on the disc tray to a rotating/driving section of the recording and/or reproducing unit is then carried out, at the same time as the disc tray is moved towards the recording and/or reproducing unit. The optical disc is clamped on the disc table constituting a disc rotating operating mechanism to enable the optical disc to be rotated in unison with the disc table. The information signals are recorded and/or reproduced on or from the optical disc by driving the recording and/or reproducing means, such as optical pickup device.
Afer completion of the recording and/or reproduction of information signals on or from the selected optical disc, the pull-out mechanism is actuated for setting the optical disc loaded on the recording and/or reproducing unit on the disc tray at the same time as the information signals are recorded and/or reproduced on or from the optical disc.
After completion of the recording and/or reproduction of the information signals on or from the selected optical disc, the pull-out mechanism is actuated for setting the optical disc loaded on the recording and/or reproducing unit on the disc tray to restore the disc tray and the optical disc set thereon into the original housing position in the housing section.
The above-described disc recording and/or reproducing apparatus is configured for completely pulling out the disc tray from the housing section and for moving the disc tray thus pulled out towards the recording and/or reproducing unit. With the disc recording and/or reproducing apparatus in which the disc tray is pulled out in its entirety from the housing unit, the distance of movement of the disc tray is increased to render the entire apparatus bulky in size. Moreover, since the distance of movement of the disc tray is increased, it becomes difficult to exchange the discs promptly.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a novel disc recording and/or reproducing apparatus capable of solving the problems of the conventional disc recording and/or reproducing apparatus having the disc exchanging function.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a disc recording and/or reproducing apparatus whereby the apparatus in its entirety can be reduced in size to make possible a prompt disc exchange operation.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a disc recording and/or reproducing apparatus whereby a disc can be positively prevented from being detached from the tray during tray movement.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a disc recording and/or reproducing apparatus whereby the recording and/or reproducing unit can be accurately moved relative to the plural trays housed in the housing section.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a disc recording and/or reproducing apparatus whereby the recording and/or reproducing unit moved relative to the housing unit can be positioned to enable stable disc recording and/or reproducing operation.
In one aspect, the present invention provides a disc recording and/or reproducing apparatus including a housing section for housing a plurality of discs, the housing section having a plurality of trays each for setting a disc thereon, the tray being movable between a pull-out position outside of the housing section and a housed position within the housing section. The apparatus also includes a recording and/or reproducing unit for recording and/or reproducing the disc, a movement unit for moving one of the housing section and the recording and/or reproducing unit relative to the other, the movement unit causing relative movement between the housing section and the recording and/or reproducing unit in an arraying direction of the plural trays housed in the housing section, and a pull-out unit for pulling out from the housing section one of the plural trays housed within the housing section. The pull-out unit holds the tray even after pulling out the tray from the housing section and shift the pulled-out tray to the recording and/or reproducing unit. The tray holding state is released by the recording and/or reproducing unit after housing the tray in the housing section.
In another aspect, the present invention provides a disc housing casing used for a disc recording and/or reproducing apparatus including a plurality of trays on which discs can be set, each tray having a setting portion for setting discs thereon, a pair of engagement bosses and a pull-out boss, and a main body portion for housing the plural trays, the main body portion having an opening via which to pull out the trays from the main body portion. The disc housing casing also includes a plurality of guide portions for guiding the trays between the pulled-out position from the main body portion and the position housed in the main body portion and a pair of engagement portions engaged with the paired engagement bosses for inhibiting descent of the tray from the main body portion.
In a further aspect, the present invention provides a disc recording and/or reproducing apparatus comprising: including a housing section for housing a plurality of discs, the housing section having a plurality of trays each for setting a disc thereon, the tray being movable between a pull-out position outside of the housing section and a housed position within the housing section. The apparatus also includes a recording and/or reproducing unit for recording and/or reproducing the disc, the recording and/or reproducing unit including a disc rotating/driving unit for driving and rotating the disc and a head unit for recording and/or reproducing the disc, a movement unit for moving one of the housing section and the recording and/or reproducing unit relative to the other, the movement unit causing relative movement between the housing section and the recording and/or reproducing unit in an arraying direction of the plural trays housed in the housing section, and a pull-out unit for pulling out from the housing section one of the plural trays housed within the housing section. The pull-out unit holds the tray even after pulling out the tray from the housing section and shifting the pulled-out tray to the recording and/or reproducing unit. The tray holding state is released by the recording and/or reproducing unit after housing the tray in the housing section, the pull-out unit stopping the tray pull-out operation when the opening of the pulled-out tray reaches the recording and/or reproducing unit.
In yet another aspect, the present invention provides a disc recording and/or reproducing apparatus including a main body portion having an insertion/removal opening, a housing section for housing a plurality of discs, the housing section being inserted into and removed from the main body portion via the insertion/removal opening, the housing section being movable between a pull-out position pulled out from the housing section and a housed position in the housing section. The apparatus also includes a recording and/or reproducing unit provided on the main body portion for recording and/or reproducing the disc, a movement mechanism provided on the main body portion for pulling out from the housing section one of the plural trays housed within the housing section, the movement mechanism causing relative movement between the housing section and the recording and/or reproducing unit in an arraying direction of the plural trays housed in the housing section. The apparatus further includes a pull-out unit provided in the main body portion for pulling out from the housing section one of the plural trays housed within the housing section. The pull-out unit holds the tray even after pulling out the tray from the housing section and shifts the pulled-out tray to the recording and/or reproducing unit. The tray holding state is released by the recording and/or reproducing unit after housing the tray in the housing section.